The Machine

The building of the Fészek Arts Club is a time capsule that gives us a glimpse into 20th century Hungarian history. Starting it’s life as a Jewish girls’ orphanage it later housed an elite members-only artists’ club with a bustling illegal nightlife, then was bordering the ghetto and thus used to smuggle secret messages through a hidden room, subsequently nationalised by the state only the regain independence in the 90s and struggling with financial difficulties ever since.

What we know of Ms. F.R. is equally puzzling. Born to a Jewish family in rural Hungary, she lived in a house opposite the Arts Club. She had visions that her thoughts and acts are controlled by the Machine inside the building, inciting her against the state. She confessed several times to the police, but was rather repeatedly taken to a psychiatry hospital to be electroshocked over a six year period.

Exhibited in 2016 at WhiteBox, New York, USA as part of 585,000 m2 A Mixed Media Exhibition on the History and Present of the Jewish Quarter of Budapest. Curated by Andrea Ausztrics and Zita Mara Vadasz.

Exhibited in 2016 at KlezKanada, Quebec, Canada as part of 585,000 m2 A Mixed Media Exhibition on the History and Present of the Jewish Quarter of Budapest. Curated by Andrea Ausztrics and Zita Mara Vadasz.